FN rounds up all the store openings, closings and redesigns happening this month, from throughout the footwear industry. Send your retail news to [email protected].

Nov. 18, 2022: H&M is opening a brand-new store experience in Brooklyn. Located in the heart of the Williamsburg neighborhood at 92 N. 6th Street, the over 7,000 square foot space opens on Nov. 18 and will remain open through January 2024.  A first of its kind in the world for the company, the experience is an invitation into the DNA of H&M – a destination that is experimental in design, progressive in programming and a place for the curious to explore style in a fun and community-focused setting. Featuring a curated selection of merchandise, H&M Williamsburg will also host exclusive programming and brand moments in a space designed to evolve throughout the year. Every 4-12 weeks the brand will unveil a new “chapter” with updated fashion, visuals, experiential events and a crop of celebrated, local neighborhood partners.

Nov. 16, 2022: Loewe has opened a new flagship store in Beverly Hills. Located at 327 N Rodeo Drive, the new 3,700 square-foot store features the Casa Loewe design concept established by creative director Jonathan Anderson. The handmade blue ceramic façade takes its place among the iconic buildings of Rodeo Drive, bringing the brand’s full offering of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear lines and accessories, accented by a curated selection of artworks from the Loewe collection. Art has always been central to the Loewe interior concept and the brand’s Rodeo Drive store will display a selection of works by international contemporary artists. Iranian-German artist Nairy Baghramian, known for her architectural and abstract representation of bodily forms, will present two works including Mooring (2016), her bright yellow, aluminum sculpture, and a monochromatic fiber-based print titled Portrait (The Concept-Artist’s Smoking Head, Stand-In) from 2016. The store will also include figurative works by Paul Pfeiffer, whose painted wood renderings of Justin Bieber’s head and arms will be on display.

Nov. 15, 2022: Balenciaga has opened a new flagship in Miami’s Design District, which combines its previously separate men’s and women’s boutiques. According to the luxury brand, this store is the largest Balenciaga store to-date in the United States. The two-story, 8,487-square foot flagship showcases the brand’s experiential Raw Architecture concept, in which codes of luxury retail are reevaluated and interiors are designed with respect to existing structural elements. Two backlit Balenciaga signs, one over each floor’s entrance, can be seen through a glass and chrome façade that unites other storefronts in the plaza. The cutting-edge design strategy, however, sets the store apart from its polished surroundings with cracked and crumbling concrete bricks, slabs showing traces of scrubbed graffiti, and tiled walls layered with synthesized residue. Inside, Art Deco-inspired flooring that echoes Miami’s historic architecture is chipped and peeling away. On another floor, a spill of enamel seeps under benches upholstered with an innovative cactus-based material. Throughout, patinas on displays and industrial railings are deployed as finishes, suspending the space in a state of conditionality. An original work by Charlotte Thrane is also on display, part of Balenciaga’s Art in Stores series.

Nov. 15, 2022: Palm Angels has opened its first pop-up store in Los Angeles, right in front of the Maxfield store. Conceived and designed with the offbeat lens of Palm Angels, the brand describes the Los Angeles boutique, located at 8818 Melrose Ave. in West Hollywood, as a space where customers can “live the brand in a true 360° experience” and will remain open for the next three weeks. In the center of the store, a palm tree stands as the “heart of the store” and a double nod to Los Angeles and the Palm Angels brand. Imagined as an “open box”, the Palm Angels pop-up aims to renew its collections every week, from an exclusive collection dedicated to Los Angeles and offered in a concrete installation entitled “You are exactly where you need to be”, to the Palm Angeles outerwear and ski-wear collection, to its Moon Boot capsule, and for the first time ever to a one-off jewelry collection of four single pieces crafted by the Londoner jeweler Duffy. The brand also highlights several collaborations, such as the 8 Moncler Palm Angels collection and the limited-edition collection of electric bikes and clothing launched with the Danish bike brand Mate Bike.

Nov. 15, 2022: Hunter Boots has teamed up with Nordstrom to expand its newly launched personalization service in the U.S. As the exclusive wholesale partner, Nordstrom will offer consumers the opportunity to make Hunter’s Original Rain Boots their very own via Nordstrom.com and kicks off with a pop-up in the Nordstrom NYC flagship starting Nov. 15 through Jan. 3, 2023. Shoppers can also head to Hunterboots.com to take part in the special, limited-time service. Hunter’s personalization service now allows customers the opportunity to put their name or the name of a loved one inside of the unmistakable Hunter red box logo on a range of different silhouettes and colorways. The Original Tall and Original Short Rain Boots are available for personalization for women and men. For kids, you can choose from the Kids First, Original Little Kids and Original Big Kids Rain Boots. You can add up to 8 characters per foot using your choice of the brand’s bestselling colors like black and Hunter red and bold new seasonal colors. Orders placed by Dec. 2 will be guaranteed to arrive before the holidays.

Nov. 15, 2022: Academy Sports + Outdoors has opened two new stores, one in Barboursville, W. Va., and one in Tampa Bay, Fla. The Barboursville store is over 60,000 square feet and is located at 30 Tanyard Station Drive, in Tanyard Station shopping center. The Tampa-area store at Pinellas Park is 50,000 square feet and is located at 7230 US Hwy 19 N. Both bring a full assortment of sports and outdoors merchandise to their communities ahead of the holiday season. Academy will host grand opening festivities from Friday, Nov. 18 through Sunday, Nov. 20 at both stores. Throughout the weekend, customers at each location can look forward to exclusive deals, giveaways, meet and greet appearances, activations by brands sold at Academy, food truck samples and take advantage of great prices. Academy has opened nine new stores in 2022. The Barboursville store marks the first in the state of West Virginia, and Pinellas Park marks the first Academy store in Tampa Bay and 14th in Florida. Academy plans to continue its expansion efforts beyond 2022, with the goal of opening 80 to 100 new stores over the next five years.

Nov. 14, 2022: Israeli shoe maker Naot has opened a new flagship store in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood as it looks to attract local shoppers and visitors to experience the comfort brand in person. “The opening of this flagship store allows us to show the breadth of the line and tell the story of Naot on a deeper level,” said Naot U.S. President Ayelet Lax Levy. “New York is my home and opening our flagship store here feels both exciting and personal. We will also be planning on donating shoes to a local charity as a way to embrace the local community.”

Nov. 4, 2022: Rothy’s is expanding its New York store footprint. Today, the brand opens a shop on the Upper West Side in New York. Located at 181 Columbus Ave, the new Rothy’s outpost continues to represent its sustainable ethos with eco-friendly construction features. For instance, 100% recycled paint was used inside the store, there’s FSC-certified wood, rPET-infused plaster for the floors, rPET cushion covers for seating as well as reusable and modular window display props. Rothy’s on the Upper West Side is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET and on Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Nov. 3, 2022: Isabel Marant has opened her second menswear store in Paris. The new 60 square-meter (645 square-foot) store located at 1 rue Jacob is two levels and is inspired by the retro-pop aesthetic of the 1970s. Situated in the heart of Saint Germain des Prés, right in front from the new Isabel Marant women’s store on rue de Seine, this gallery-boutique showcases the brand’s menswear wardrobe alongside a selection of works from international designers. The space is echoing the recording studios of the ‘70s with pyramid-shaped reliefs on the walls, reminiscent of the recording booths insulation, here in textured concrete. Fitting rooms and metal shelves are dressed in natural fabrics to contrast with the industrial atmosphere. The designer, who opened her first boutique in Paris in the late nineties, now has 67 stores worldwide.

Nov. 2, 2022: Royalmount, Montreal’s future destination for over 170 stores including 60 restaurants and experiential attractions, has announced that Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., RH, Sandro and Maje have been confirmed for the major new retail and lifestyle destination. Louis Vuitton will launch its first dedicated store in Quebec with the opening of a new 9,150 sq. ft. flagship at Royalmount. Gucci will also be bringing its first dedicated store to the market, taking a 8,700 sq. ft. space at the heart of the district. They will be joined by Tiffany & Co. which is opening its largest store in the city. RH will open a 46,500 sq. ft. gallery which will be the brand’s flagship store in Montreal and its first presence in Quebec. Joining these brands are Sandro and Maje. Sandro will be opening a 2,700 sq. ft. store offering both men and womenswear, and Maje will be opening a 1,500 sq. ft. store, its first boutiques in the Quebec province. Openings are expected in spring 2024.

Nov. 1, 2022: Academy Sports + Outdoors has opened a new store in the Meyerland neighborhood of Houston, Texas. Located at 8715 W Loop South, the 50,000 sq.-ft. store is the company’s 33rd store in the Greater Houston area, and its 107th store in Texas. It is also the seventh of nine new stores Academy will open throughout its footprint in 2022. Academy looks forward to continuing its expansion efforts beyond 2022, with the goal of opening 80 to 100 new stores over the next five years. To mark the opening, Academy will host grand opening festivities from Friday, Nov. 4 through Sunday, Nov. 6. Throughout the weekend, customers can look forward to exclusive deals, giveaways, an appearance by softball legend Jennie Finch, activations by brands sold at Academy, and more.

Oct. 20, 2022: Ssense has taken over Burberry’s Michigan Avenue store as part of the ongoing “Imaginary Cities, Ch. II” collaboration between the global technology platform and luxury house. For the takeover, Burberry Michigan Avenue is transformed into a multistoried experience featuring commissioned works by digital artist Oscar Zabala which seek to explore commonalities in both natural and industrial patterns. A product of vast data sets merged through a bespoke AI program, these real-time morphing tableaus react to their audio counterpart composed by musician Alexander Mackay. These concepts collide further with an audio room featuring sounds from natural environments, a series of generative artworks and projections of cityscapes to introduce the new Burberry outerwear collection – inspired by nature, the sky and constellations. First launched in June 2021 at Burberry SoHo in New York City, the inaugural edition of Imaginary Cities saw Burberry and Ssense unite in their shared approach to digital and physical innovation, pushing boundaries to conceptualize a first of its kind offline and online multidisciplinary experience. Imaginary Cities, Ch. II is now open from Oct. 25 at Burberry Michigan Avenue.